Six Weeks to Showtime and It's Starting to Look Like an Arena

The new and first home of the Santa Cruz Warriors made some big strides the past 10 days, with a concrete floor and a canvas roof.

Finally, passersby can see that the front of the building isn't on Front Street, but on Spruce, directly in front of the entrance to Wheel Works.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting City Manager Martin Bernal announced that signing off on the legal deal was imminent, but if it didn't happen before Thursday's deadline, there were extensions available.

He also said the team has sold more than 900 season tickets for the 2,900-seat arena. The city will  be adding 49 parking meters to the area south of Laurel Street, which will charge 50 cents for the first two hours; $1 for the next two and $2 for hours after that.

Lower Pacific Avenue meters closer to the arena will be raised to 75 cents for the first two hours and then $1.25 and $2.

The meters will cost the city $82,000 to install and maintain, according to parking director Marlin Granlund, but could earn $40,000 a year without the team or possibly twice that with the 25 games.

The city will also supply 375 parking spaces at garages for $5 and $10 to be paid in advance with the tickets. It is also talking to county administrators about using the lot outside the County Building and reviving the summer cable car shuttle for game days.

The Warriors announced Wednesday that two games will be nationally televised on CBS: February 23 against the Maine Red Claws and Monday March 25 against the Idaho Stampede.

Tickets are available at www.santacruzbasketball.com or at Warriors Headquarters at 903 Pacific Ave.